Easily removed toilet seat



Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON 3,471,874

EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT Filed Dec. 22, 1967 4 Sheets-Sheet lINYHYTOH,

PAP/PIS E. D/XOA/ A 'ITORNEH Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVEDTOILET SEAT 4 SheetS Sheet 2 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.3

FIGA

INVENTOR.

FARRIS E. DIXON ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVED TOILETSEAT 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.8

ATTORNEY Oct. 14, 1969 F. E. DIXON EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT 4Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed Dec. 22. 1967 FIG.IO

FIG.9

FIG.

3,471,874 EASILY REMOVED TOILET SEAT Farris E. Dixon, Louisville, Ky.,assignor to American Standard Inc, New York, N.Y., a corporation ofDelaware Filed Dec. 22, 1967, Ser. No. 692,989 Int. Cl. A47k 13/12 US.Cl. 4-240 9 Claims ABSTRACT OF THE DISCLOSURE This invention embodies atoilet seat and cover combination which may be easily installed on thetoilet bowl and easily removed whenever desired for cleaning or otherpurposes and then just as easily re-installed. The seat is readilyseparated from the cover and just as readily rejoined to the cover.

The toilet seat has a back extension having a doubleended pintleintegrally formed therein. Each end of the pintle has two flat sides andtwo circular sides. The cover embodies two U-shaped brackets to receivethe two ends of the pintle. The two seat posts of the toilet bowl arealso U-shaped so that they may also receive the two ends of the pintle.

This invention relates to toilet seats and covers therefor. Moreparticularly, this invention relates to a combination toilet seat andcover which is simple in construction, low in cost and readily installedand just as readily removed whenever desired so that the toilet seat andcover may be cleaned and then re-installed into their original positionswith respect to a toilet bowl.

Although the conventional toilet seat and cover combination is mountedon the toilet bow-l so as to be removable, usually the seat and covercombination may be removed only by a fairly skilled person ofconsiderable strength, with the aid of a wrench or pliers or both, and,because of this difiiculty, the removability feature of the combinationhas seldom been used by the average user, such as the housewife.Furthermore, the separate removal of the seat or the separate removal ofthe cover was quite difficult if not impossible to accomplish in theaverage or conventional construction and installation.

According to the present invention, a toilet seat and over combinationhas been devised and constructed so that the toilet seat and cover as acombination, may be readily removed whenever desired for cleaning orother purposes and thereafter reinstalled with equal ease. Thearrangement of this invention will be such that the typical housewife,for example, who may have little or no mechanical aptitude or skill, orwho may have too little physical power to manipulate a fair sized screwdriver or a wrench, will be able to go through the simple routinewhenever desired for detaching the toilet seat and cover combinationfrom the bowl and also thereafter separating the toilet seat from thecover so that either or both of these may be washed, for example, andthen replaced as a combination on the toilet bowl without the employmentof any tools or appliances, and without the necessity for specialskills, and without the application of a large amount of physical ormanual power.

It will be readily apparent that a toilet seat and cover combinationwhich may be readily detached and just as readily reinstalled would havegreat advantages and appeal, not only for the average housewife, butalso for administrators of hospitals, sanitaria and other institutionswhere cleanliness is a necessity throughout the institutions. Thecombination toilet seat and cover of this invention, as will be furtherexplained hereinafter, is easily removable from the specially designedseat posts of the toilet bowl and is just as easily re-attachable; andthere are no parts nitcd States Patent 0 other than the usual partsrequired to install the combination toilet seat and cover on the seatposts of the toilet bowl, so that the seat and cover may be quickly andeasily removed and then re-installed.

One of the features of this invention resides in a special pintle whichhas a unique cross section and is an integral, non-removable componentof the toilet seat.

Another of the features of this invention resides in a U-shaped bracketwhich is an integral non-removable component of the cover of the toiletseat and cover combination, the bracket having two spaced sides sodesigned that the pintle of the seat may be inserted between the twospaced sides of the bracket and, after insertion therebetween, thepintle may be rotated within the U-shaped bracket. This enables the seatto be moved relative to the cover as often as is desired, or vice versa.

Still another of the features of this invention resides in a specialseat post for the toilet bowl which may be permanently afiixed to thetoilet bowl in the usual manner, and which embodies a U-shapedconstruction so that the pintle of the toilet seat may be insertedbetween the jaws of the U-shaped member to retain the pintletherebetween and still allow the pintle to be rotated with respect tothe seat post. The pintle of the seat may be removed from its normalposition between the jaws of the bowl seat post whenever desired so thatthe combination toilet seat and cover may be temporarily removed forcleaning or other purposes and later re-installed.

A further feature of this invention resides in the employment of a backextension for the seat of the combination so arranged that the pintle isan integral part of the seat extension and the pintle is double-ended,the crosssectional shape of each end being fiat on two parallel sides topermit ready slidability and circular on two remaining (longer) sides topermit ready rotatability. The two ends of the pintle may be separatelyor simultaneously inserted between the two corresponding U-shapedbrackets of the cover and also between the two cor-responding Ushapedformations of the toilet seat posts. These U-shaped units are so shapedas to be installed readily and to be maintained in position until it isdesired to remove the combination from the seat posts. The removal fromthe seat posts may be accomplished by simply turning the combinationthrough a predetermined angle with respect to the openings in the toiletseat posts and having the two ends of the pintle separately orsimultaneously removed from the jaws of the seat posts. Furthermore, theseat may be likewise removed from its associated cover by turning theseat through a predetermined angle with respect to the cover so that thetwo ends of the pintle may be separately or simultaneously removed fromthe U-shaped brackets of the cover.

This invention, as well as its various objects and features, will bebetter and more completely understood from the more detailed descriptionhereinafter following, when read in connection with the accompanyingdrawing, in which FIG. 1 shows a perspective of the toilet seat and ofthe cover separated from each other to illustrate some of the featuresof the invention; FIG. 2 illustrates the toilet seat and cover coupledto each other; FIG. 3 shows a rear end view, partly in section, of theseat and cover mounted on a toilet bowl in which the cover is formed toprovide an apron; FIG. 4, illustrates a rear end view of a modified formof seat and cover combination mounted on a toilet bowl, in which thecover of the combination does not have an apron; FIG. 5 is a rear endview showing an enlargement of a part of the combination of thisinvention; FIG. 6 shows a section taken along the line 66 of FIG. 5;FIG. 7 depicts a perspective of a toilet seat, partly broken away,mounted on the seat posts of a toilet bowl; FIG. 8 is a side view of thetoilet seat and cover combination, the cover being partly broken away;FIGS. 9 and 10 show two forms of the seat post, both in perspective, theformer having a closed U-shaped gap, and the latter an open U-ShflJPCdgap; and FIGS. 11 and 12 show perspectives of the seat with relation tothe seat post, the pintle of the seat being partially removed in FIG.12. The same reference characters will be used throughout the drawing torepresent the same or similar parts throughout the various figures ofthe drawing.

Referring to the drawing, the reference character designates the toiletseat 10 and 20 the cover therefor. They are mounted within toilet seatposts 30 and 40 at the rear of the toilet bowl designated 50. The rearpart of the toilet seat, designated 12, embodies a transverse pintle orhinge pin having two oo-linear parts 15, 15a, which are integrallyformed in the back extension 12. One part of the hingle pin or pintle,15, protrudes from one side of the back extension 12, while the otherside of the hinge pin or pintle, 15a, protrudm from the other side ofthe back extension. The cross-section of each of the pintles 15, 15a arefour-sided, two of the sides, 17 and 17a, being parallel to each otherwhile the other two sides, which are longer, 18 and 18a, are circular inshape, but other shapes may be employed. The cover 20 embodies twobrackets, 22, 22a, which may be formed as integral parts of the cover20. As observed in the drawing, each bracket 22, 22a has a U-shapedopening 19, preferably circular in shape, as shown and two jaws 21, 21a,which extend to the opening 19. Each pintle 15 is insertable within thejaws 21 and 21a of the cover bracket 22.

FIGS. 3, 4, 5 and 6 show the general combination or assembly of thearrangement of this invention. The toilet bowl 50 has two seat posts andmounted at the rear of the bowl. The cross-section shown in FIG. 6 showsin greater detail the configuration of the seat post 30. The seat post30 is U-shaped, having an opening 31 and two jaws 32, 32a; and the innerwall of the U-shaped portion is circular. 'Ilhe latter circularityenables the pintle 15 to be rotatable within the inner wall. The posts30, 40 are fastened to the rear of the bowl by means of nuts, 35, 45, asshown in FIGS. 3 and 4.

Two forms of the seat post to be used in this invention are shown inFIGS. 9 and 10. The form of the seat post shown in FIG. 9 is closed atone end 60, so that the end of the pintle 15 will be maintained at alltimes within the U-shaped inner Wall of the seat post. On the otherhand, the form of the seat post of FIG. 10 is open at both ends so thatthe free end of the pintle will protrude the end wall of the seat post.

FIGS. 11 and 12 show the seat post, which may be of the form 70indicated in FIG. 10, in its relation to the pintle 15a of the seat 10.In FIG. 12 the pintle 15a is shown between the jaws 32 of the seat post70 but partly above the nadir of the U-shaped inner wall. In thisposition the pintle 15 may be considered as about to slide furtherbetween the jaws into the inner wall or, alternatively, the pintle maybe viewed as about to slide further out of the space between the jaws 32to disassociate the pintle 15a (and the seat 10 of which it is a part)from the seat post 70. In FIG. 11 the pintle 15a is fully engaged withinthe inner wall of the seat post 70. In this position the seat 10 issubstantially in its horizontal position.

In FIG. 7 the pintle 15 is shown physically locked in position betweenthe seat posts 30, 40. FIG. 8 shows a side view of the seat 10 and cover20 in their respective horizontal positions, this view showing bumpers78 as spacing the seat 10 from its cover 20.

FIG. 8 also shows the bracket 22a of the cover 20, the jaws 21, 21a andthe pintle 15. By rotating the seat 10 relative to the cover 20 into therealtive positions shown in the dotted lines of this figure, the seat 10and its pintle 15a are properly aligned to enable the seat and pintlecombination to be removed and disassociated from the bracket 22a of thecover 20.

According to this invention, the toilet seat 10 and the cover 20 areeasily removed from the toilet bowl 50 for cleaning or other purposeswhenever desired. No tools, gadgets or other appliances are needed todisassociate the units from the toilet bowl. As already noted, thepintle 15 is preferably an integral part of the composite seat unit 10.Further, the U-shaped brackets 22, 22a are preferably integral parts ofthe composite cover unit 20. The open jaws 21, 21a of the bracketspermit the pintle to be slid easily and conventiently into or out ofthese jaws to install or remove the seat unit 10 and the cover unit 20,or to remove the seat unit from the cover Iunit. Unskilled personnel canperform the simple operations without assistance. Furthermore, the seatand cover combination is easily installed on the seat posts 30, 40 ofthe bowl or removed therefrom merely by rotating the combination intothe proper angular position and sliding the pintle 15 into the opening31 between the jaws 32, 32a of the seat posts 30 and 40 or by slidingthe pintle out of the openin 31.

One of the principal instrumentalities used to practice this inventionis the slotted device which provides a channel through which theflattened (or fiat-sided) pintle may be moved to position the pintle atthe desired location, that is, the center, of a U-shaped device toinstall the toilet seat cover combination on the toilet bowl. The keydevice for that installation is the open-ended seat post 30 or 40.Similarly, another like open-ended or slotted device such as 22, whichis affixed to or is an integral part of the cover 20, serves to providea gap for receiving the same flattened or flat-sided pintle to couplethe seat to the cover. Merely by sliding the pintle out of the same gap(after some angular rotation), the seat 10 may be separated from thecover 20 or the seat and cover combination may be separated from thebowl. The invention thus resides in the geometry of the pintle 15, theseat post 30 and the bracket 22. "llhe angular position of the gap ofthe seat post 30 and of the bracket 22 will determine the angle throughwhich rotation may be required to couple or decouple the several parts.

All of the above mentioned parts, that is, the seat 10, the cover 20,the pintle 15, the bracket 22 and the seat post 30 may, if desired, bemade of plastic materials of sufficient strength, but obviously anyconventional materials would be suflicient for the intended purposes ofthis invention.

It will be apparent that the relative position of the seat 10 and cover20 combination for removal is necessarily determined by the relativelocation of the jaw openings in the seat posts 30, 40. A verticalopening, such as 31 (see FIG. 6), or any other opening extending fromthat vertical position to a position about 15 degrees from thehorizontal position, may be the preferred angular displacement of theopening. An appropriate opening will virtually prevent the seat andcover combination from being accidentally dislodged or disengaged fromthe bowl structure.

While this invention has been shown and described in certain particulararrangements merely for the punpose of illustration and explanation, itwill be apparent that the invention and its features may be applied toother and widely varied organizations without departing from the spiritof the invention and the scope of the appended claims.

What is claimed is:

1. 'llhe combination of a toilet seat, two co-linear pintles extendingoutwardly in opposite directions from the back of the seat, and a coverhaving two U-shaped brackets between the jaws of which the pintles maybe inserted to assemble the cover on the seat so that the seat may berotated about the pintles and from which the pintles may be withdrawn todisassemble the cover from the seat.

2. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the U-shaped bracketshave rounded inner walls and the pintles lhave rounded sides so as to berotatable within the inner walls of the brackets.

3. The combination recited in claim 1 in which the U- shaped bracketshave rounded inner walls and the pintles have two flat parallel oppositewalls so as to be slidable between the jaws of the brackets and twocircular opposite walls spaced further apart than the two flat walls soas to be rotatable within the inner walls of the brackets.

4. The combination of a toilet bowl, two separate U- shaped postsmounted on the rear of the bowl, the jaws of said posts extendingupwardly from said bowl, and a toilet seat having two co-linear pintlesextending outwardly in opposite directions from the back of the seat,said pintles being slidable into the jaws of the posts whenever the seatis in itn vertical position to be assembled on the bowl, said pintlesbeing also rotatable within the inner walls of the posts so that saidseat may be mounted on said bowl, said seat being removable from thejaws by being slid therefrom when it is in a vertical position, theinner sides of said U-shaped posts retaining the seat substantiallyfixed in position when said seat is resting on said bowl.

5. The combination recited in claim 4 in which each pintle has foursides two of which are flat and parallel to each other and the other tworounded about a common axis.

6. The combination of a toilet bowl, two U-shaped posts mounted on therear of the bowl, a toilet seat having two outwardly and oppositelydirected pintles mounted colinearly at the rear of the seat, a coverhaving two U- shaped brackets, the pintles being insertable between thejaws of the U-shaped brackets so as to assemble the seat with respect tothe cover, the pintles also being insertable between the jaws of theU-shaped posts so that the seat and cover combination may be assembledon the pants of the bowl.

7. The combination recited in claim 6 in which the pintles form anintgral apart of the seat, each pintle having four sides, two of whichare fiat and parallel and the other two of which are circular about anaxis which coincides with the axis of the pintles.

8. The combination recited in claim 7 in which the U- shaped bracketsand the U-shaped posts have circular inner walls to facilitate therotation of the pintles within said inner walls.

9. The combination recited in claim 8 in which the jaws of the bracketsand of the posts are spaced apart sufficiently to enable the two flatsides of the pintle to be slid therebetween.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,496,466 6/1924 Jackson 16-1712,333,732 11/1943 Morris 4-240 FOREIGN PATENTS 922,795 4/ 1963 GreatBritain.

LAVERNE D. GEIGER, Primary Examiner HENRY K. ARTIS, Assistant ExaminerUS. Cl. X.R.

